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Monday

2013 will be bringing our family a new baby, in early April and we are all getting ready. My daughter will be giving birth to her 4th child. She and her husband have 3 little boys and are thrilled to be welcoming another little one into their lives. They have always wanted a large family and have even talked of baby #5 but that remains to be seen.They have chosen to not know the gender of my new little grandchild so my gift to them must be white. Gina also wants the new nursery to be white.I have been making little gifts for the new baby and one of them is a soft bath set. I bought a pack of 8 ready made wash cloths and simply cut them into 4 baby bibs and 4 hand wash cloths. Then crochetedaround each with a delicate fillet lace pattern.

For the bath towel I bought a yard of soft terry cloth and did the same design around the edges.

Each of the bibs will have a tiny red heart near the satin ribbon as a reminder of my love for this new little life.

As a grandma I'll tell you it's hard living so far from my grandchildren but we do keep in touch as much as possible. I'm not sure if I'll mail my gifts just yet, we are still talking of my flying to Gina for the birth. I love the idea of not knowing the gender of our babies until birth, it gives the family such a surprise, especially this family.With each stitch I make it brings a warm smile to my heart.

Sunday

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I am not making any money from this company I just thought this was brilliant and you all need to know about it. And I know several people who have cashed in their Gift Cards.

Extra cash in your pocket is one good way to start 2013 don't ya think!

Saturday

We are about to celebrate a New Year, 2013. I have to laugh because it was not supposed to come. You know the scare of "End of the world on Dec 21". But then we had the same scare when the year 2000 hit. How funny are we humans when we dream up such things.From what I'm reading so many brand names we have been used to will be leaving us in our New Year, likeAvon. How long has that brand been around? Most of us know the slogan "Avon Calling".

JC Penney
Customers have voted with their
pocketbooks, telling the retailer this year that they dislike the
revolutionized shopping experience.

In 2012, the merchant did
away with coupons and frequent sales in favor of every-day low prices.
Subsequently, sales are down over 20% since last year, and Internet
sales have plummeted by more than a 33%. Many investors doubt new CEO
Ron Johnson will be able to revive the 110-year-old company.

Mitsubishi Motors North America
The
auto company is struggling to compete with rival car-makers. The
company’s sales are down 29%, and they have just a 0.4% market share of
the auto industry. By comparison, competitor Ford owns roughly 16%.

They’re
just too small to survive, McIntyre says. They’re maybe 20th or 21st
out of 22 automakers. They can’t afford to keep the brand up and
running. It’s too expensive to operate and market the North American
segment of the company.

BlackBerry
Its BlackBerry was the king of
smartphones five years ago, until Apple and Android came along, knocking
the mobile phone giant off the throne. There was a time when nearly
everyone in the corporate world carried a Blackberry. But the company
failed to transition its technology to appeal to more consumers,
dragging down its stock price from $144 in 2008 to around $11 bucks
these days. Word on the street is that RIM’s best exit strategy would be
to get acquired.

(Some of my greatst ideas came from this mag? I will miss it)

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
With
print a dying medium, domestic doyenne Martha Stewart is bowing to the
challenges of publishing a magazine in an increasingly digital world.
Her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, has shuttered two of its
four magazines this year. And a third may be on its way out in the New
Year. Ad pages in Martha Stewart Living were down 30% through nearly all
of 2012. Analysts at 24/7 Wall St. expect the magazine to be the next
Omnimedia property to be cut.

You can’t lose 30% of your
advertising and still operate, says McIntyre. “Martha Stewart’s really
lost her luster since going to prison, and she hasn’t gotten it back.
The insider trading scandal tarnished her image with the women who
looked up to her.”

American Airlines
For
almost 30 years, American was the premier airline in the United States.
But the mergers of Northwest with Delta and Continental with United
shrunk American to a mid-size carrier. The airline’s parent company
filed for bankruptcy in 2011, and buyout rumors started this past
spring, which some of the airline’s largest employee unions say they
support.

Avon
The beauty brand is battling financial woes of
its own. Earnings are dismal, and the company has been embroiled in a
bribery probe over suspicious payments possibly made to government
officials and third parties in China, France and Brazil. Earlier this
year, a perfume company flirted with the idea of buying Avon. Although
it didn’t sell, Avon is still an ideal candidate for takeover.

Which of these brands would you like to see survive in 2013?

"A little post script here from me, "I'm just amazed and thrilled to see 2013 come rolling in. For me, It was not supposed to be.

(chuckle chuckle)

"To all those we lost in 2012, we will see you again one day" And to all my bloggie friends have a wonderful new year to come.

Wednesday

One of my Holiday desserts was this super easy Coconut Pie. I found the recipe on Pinterest and they promised it was easy and good, and if your a Coconut lover this is the pie for you!All the ingredients were put into a blender, whip for 3 minutes and pour into a pie dish... bake for 50 minutes and done!

Preheat oven to 350'

In a blender combine these ingredients.

1/2 c butter

3 eggs

3/4 c sugar

2 c milk (I used 1 cup Egg Nog and 1 cup milk)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c Busquick

2/3 c shredded Coconut

1/4 tsp salt

(Please note, I used 1 cup of Egg Nog and the nog is sweet so you may want to cut down on the sugar. I say use half the sugar called for)

Whip in the blender for all of 3 minutes.

Pour into ungreased pie pan (I used glass).

Bake for 50 minutes.

Yes, that's all there is to it.

This pie made me very happy!

My Christmas was fun this year, really. My sister is here and daughter #1 came for a few days and the three of us went out each of the three days before Christmas and soaked in some holiday cheer.. fun not liquor... we went shopping and battled the crowds, did lunch, and it's been a long time since we have done that. How we laughed.

We did our gift exchange and dinner on Christmas Eve. We took a vote on our dinner and it was, Shrimp, snow crabs, roasted corn and veggies.

Monday

Christmas is upon us once again and having been blessed with a house full of children I have such wonderful feelings and memories of the mornings when small kids would come into my room to wake me with their little fingers propping open my eyes.

"Mom, Santa was here"

"Wake up, Santa Clause was here, he even ate his cookies"

When my children were small for a time we lived in both Jersey and Central Illinois and usually had snow laying on the ground for Christmas and although it was cold and messy out the picture made my Christmas perfect.I remember dragging myself out of bed before the birds and chickens were making their early morning sounds to the noise of the kids. They were so happy and so awake..

"Hurry Mom, Santa came last night"

I would stumble down the stairs behind these sweet little kids all dressed in their matching jammies. Each laughing and squeeling with joy. There in the room would be the tree, lit and glowing with colorful packages that Santa left sometime during the night. I remember trying to bribe the kids saying things like, "We will start opening presents after mom makes her coffee and lights the fireplace"... there was no way anyone would wait for me to get myself awake and I would resist but they always won. Then the loud, noisy fun began! "Let me get my camera".. no they just could not wait!

Yes, all my feeling on this day in the year 2012, are both sad and oh so happy that I was blessed with these beautiful children, who today are at their own homes with their small children doing the exact same thing to them. The sad part is that I miss those kids and the special fun we all had together. I want those times back, I want those kids small again. Like my first Christmas as a mom with a three month old baby girl.

Today how I wish we had the technology back then. To be able to record those cherished moments and be able to save and share them without paying for the good and bad prints. Remember "film"? I'll tell you I have boxes of old photos just as you do. Some blurry and some really good stills. But what a huge waist of money to bring the film to the store only to pay for 24 when only three came out good enough to save. I don't live in the past, no way because I love today but I just miss my little, sweet children and see their happiness on Christmas Day.

Saturday

I made Christmas Stocking for my son and his family a few weeks agoyou can see them here We have a Detective friend who now lives in the mountains of Georiga. She grew up in Nome, Alaska and is a great fan of the Polar Bear. When she saw the stockings I made my kids she loved them, especially the one with the Polar Bear on it... Aleta is also like a sister to my son and they both have maintained a close bond since working together with the US Coast Guard up in Alaska.The other day Aleta mentioned how much she loved the stockings and how she had a great attraction to the Polar Bear.

Aleta is one of those wonderful women who has given her all to our country. She retired from the US Coast Guard and then worked in law enforcement ever since. She is my hero! She also does things that I'm so afraid of doing. Like ride through the borders with "Misha" her beautiful Officer K9.

Or through the icy mountains of Alaska on her motorcycle or jeep.. she has done some prettyextraordinary work and now works for the US Department of Veterans Affairs helping keep the peace.

"Aleta is all I ever wanted to be and I'm so proud to call her my friend"I'm happy to say she received her stocking yesterday, just in time to hang on her mantel for Christmas. Our Country has so many great people like Aleta and I want to wish her and all our protectors a wonderful.... "Merry Christmas"

Friday

One of my traditions each year. I spend a day whipping out tons of Christmas Cookies. First of all I love to bake and decorate and in light of the evil last week I thought this might be a good weekend to give my spirits a lift.I made cookie dough both from scratch and used the wonderful cookies mixes on the market. I think I started at 6am and kept at it until 3 in the afternoon.. Had my Pandora Christmas music on the iPad, My Starbucks Pumpkin Spice coffee and away I went.

I had cookies stacked everywhere while I decorated. Having to laugh at myself as I looked at some of the cookies, well like the little Gingerbread Men.. they looked scared. Oh well, they taste good! I tried something new with the Peanut Butter cookies.. I put a 1/2 cup of Nutella in the dough and a little bit more flour and let me tell you, "they taste wonderful"!This was the first year I did not have anyone helping me.. I put a notice on my FB,, calling all grandchildren to come help. Had several response's to come eat them but no one came to decorate. Oh well, I had fun all by myself.

All together I made 8 boxes that will be wrapped and given as gifts to neighbors. Of course the Mr. has his own box and one for the nice people at his work. Oh and lets not forget my BFF Cardio Doc.. this man and his staff deserve so much more from me. I did pack some up and put them in the mail, for a friend. I sure hope she gets more than crumbs.

Wednesday

While reading a few blogs I follow, there was a cute "little House Ornament" made by one of my bloggie friends.It gave me the inspiration to make my "Little House" for my daughter who bought her first home a few months ago. Although Anita's little house is totally different fabric and designs, well, you can see hers Going a Little Coastal . Anita also has a Son who moved into his first home and this gave me the idea. Her little house is so cute.

My Cyndi's home is decorated totally Country so I pulled out my burlap scraps and created a small house with a Christmas theme.. Cyndi just put up her decorations on the front of her house so I did my rendition of her lights.

I used DMC Floss to put lights on the Eves of the house, just like Cyndi did on her home. On the reverse side I added a few words to remember the date and event in her life.I'm sure she will totally enjoy putting this little ornament on her tree.